‘No Longer Welcome’: Welsh business to refuse services to Reform supporters
Stephen Price
A small business which repairs and sells watches and clocks has received a mixed response online after sharing that Reform supporters are ‘no longer welcome’.
Anglesey Watches and Shops is a watch and clock repair and sales business based at the Mini Mall in Holyhead, Anglesey, operated by owner Joe Homer.
The business repairs, services and sells watches and clocks, as well as providing watch batteries for all makes as well as other services such as waterproof sealing and pressure testing for watches.
In a post shared to their Facebook page, Joe Homer wrote: “Thought hard about this over the past few days but decided that basic decency comes first.”
He then shared an image of a poster which reads: “Reform Supporters No Longer Welcome Effective immediately:
“Following the scenes over the weekend of Farage laughing on stage as a woman was assaulted in front of him, then joking that she’d “injured herself” I’ve taken the difficult decision that I no longer wish to offer my skills to supporters of this abusive excuse for a human being.
“My disgust at his behaviour was only compounded by Jenrick’s flippant “Oh Boo Hoo” response when challenged about it on camera, and by the seemingly endless online defence of the assault from Reform supporters.
“This is NOT about politics, it’s about basic decency. A mob assaulting a woman is NEVER funny, and it’s NEVER the victim’s fault. It’s as simple as that.
“The company people keep says a lot about who they are and, if somebody chooses to keep that sort of company, then I have nothing to offer them.
“Thank you for your understanding,
“Joe Homer,
“Anglesey Watches”
The move follows the release of footage which appears to show the leaders of Reform UK in Bracknell physically confronting a female heckler at their party conference in Birmingham.
Reform UK held its annual conference at the Nations Experience Capital (NEC) in Solihull over three days last weekend.
Malcolm Tullett, the chairman, and Justin Bellhouse, the deputy chairman of Reform UK Bracknell, have emerged in footage captured by Sky News appearing to confront a heckler at the conference.
Mr Bellhouse is also a councillor on Bracknell Town Council representing Harmans Water.
Cllr Bellhouse can be seen grimacing, grabbing the woman by the back of her neck, and slapping her on her forehead. Mr Tullett then appears to lose his balance during the scuffle with the woman.
Robert Jenrick, Reform UK MP for Newark, was confronted with the footage on Sky News Sunday Morning.
He said: “Oh boohoo!
“I’m not afraid of hecklers, I’ve had plenty of them in my time. You take your chances if you go to party conference of getting messed up.”
In response to presenter Jon Sopel, he then added: ““We’re now in a country Jon, where, whatever she is, a far-left protester goes into a party conference, tries to wreck the leader’s speech and cries foul if a pensioner knocks her over the head with a Zimmer frame.
“I mean, come on, get a life. This person knew what they were doing, they were trying to cause trouble and probably got more publicity as a result of what happened.”
Support
Over 3,000 comments have appeared on the post since its creation only yesterday (Tuesday 8 September).
One commenter responded: “Reform supporters seem to delight in abuse and intimidation – I admire your stand and your bravery in risking a mob response.”
Another reads: “Good move on all counts I reckon. When Reform voters started banging on about boycotting the RNLI, their donations went up. Similarly I would imagine your public support will be massively boosted.
“What these people still seem to miss is that they are a loud mouthed minority and that 80% of the electorate don’t support their views and don’t want Reform in power. I applaud the ethical stance more than anything.”
In response to a poster that wrote “As a woman myself I just love this post. Putting humans before profit is amazing. You will certainly be looked after and rewarded,” the company wrote: “I was brought up with 3 sisters and an absolute rule that you do NOT hit women (yes, even when they start it). And you sure as hell don’t stand there on stage laughing as somebody else does!”
Another asked: “Is it legal for a bed and breakfast establishment to post the same message? Anyone know?”
To which Homer replied: “Political opinion is NOT automatically a protected characteristic in the UK, except on a wider philosophical basis. So, for example, you can’t bar someone for “being right wing” or “being socialist” but you absolutely can for support of a particular party, politician, or candidate.”
Another asked: “Very simple basic question.If someone walks into your shop, how do you what political pursuasion (sic.) you are ?”
To which the company replied: “It’s an auto-filter. We won’t, but we can be pretty certain the more entrenched Reform supporters won’t be able to walk past it without steam coming out of their ears.”
Right-wing Facebook page Wales for a United Kingdom was quick to share the social media post, along with the caption: “Reform supporters are no longer welcome at Anglesey Watches and Clocks.
“How will we possibly cope in this day and age without watches and clocks?”
One commenter replied to their post, writing: “I wonder whether they laughed when that woman threw a milkshake at Farage. Or, when Jo Brand said it should have been battery acid?”
Another added: “This is surely a joke, right? are they going to ask every customer their political persuasion before flogging a clock?”
“As they say, go woke, go broke”
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